Method of constructing revetments



Ham 2%, i933, G, H. MATTHES 2,028,794

METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING REVETMENTS Filed March l5, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet l Jn., 289 lgg. G. H. MATTHES 2,928,7@4-

METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING REVETMENTS Filed March 13, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 wim@ Jam., 2S? E936. (3h H MATTHES (3928,?94

METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING REVETMENTS Filed March l5, 1934 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 AOl sons of the year as long .as the water is free from Patented dan. 28, 1936 I .i'rE s'iaTEs PATENT OFFICE METHOD 0F CONSTRUCTING REVETMENTS Gerard H. Matthes, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application March 13, 1934, Serial N0. 715,332

2 Claims. (Cl. 61-37) (Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as

amended April 30, 1928; 370 O. G. 757) This invention described herein may be manthe irregularities in their natural surface; which ufactured and used by or for the Government for Will resist the removal by water of all bank magovernmental purposes, Without the payment to terials from under the revetment; which may me of .any royalty thereon. be utilized to fill in holes caused by sliding of the This invention generically relates to a revetbank materials; which may be readily repaired 5 ment and a method for producing it; more spelocally without requiring reconstruction on a large ciically it is directed to a mattress composed of Scale, and flnallya revetment applicable to a wide a plurality of units having a 'predetermined size, variety of conditions imposed by currents, depths shape and weight, these units when applied in of Water, nature of natural soil conditions and sucient numbers to the shore, bank and/or the like. 1o bottom' of the river or other body of water to be With these and other objects in View the invenprotected functioning to prevent undermining, tion resides in the novel details of construction erosion and scouring. and combination or parts as will be disclosed more one object of this invention is io provide fully hereinafter and particularly pointed out in revetment and method of the character specied the claims. 15 which will prove especially effective in localities Briefly Stated, One fOrln 0f this invention 00n- Where rock, stone or rip-rap are not readily availsists in forming a base of gravel, Shells, brik bats, able and which will airord protection in the nablast furnace slag, brOken Stone 01 Similar Inature of a mat or blanket possessing great staterial on the surface to be revetted, applying one bility .and durability for unconsolidated natural or more layers of tetrahedron blocks, each block 90 bank material such as sand, loam, gravel and the being formed from Concrete, asphalt, Clay 01 Other like. suitable material, and having dimensions and Another object of this invention is to provide mass calculated to resist the tractive force to a revetment composed of one or more layers of which it Will be subjected when in place and then tetraheron shaped units, the dimensions and interspersing the blocks with a suitable filler ma- 35 mass of each unit"being predicated on the tracterial such as gravel, crushed Stone and the like, tive force to which it Will be subjected When dist0 prevent undermining, SCOllring and eI'OSiOn, dile posed in blanket forming position upon the surto the destructive action of the water. face to be protected. Referring more particularly to the accompany- Another object of this invention is to provide ing drawings in which Corresponding parts are :zo a revetment composed of one or more layers of indicated by similar reference characters: tetrahedron shaped units adapted to be applied Fig. l iS a SeCtiOnel View partly in elevatOn to a suitably prepared base, the respective units illustrating a revetment Composed 0f a gravel being interspersed with gravel or other approbase, tetral'ledrOn blOCkS upon the base, and a priate aggregate, the latter serving to prevent dellller material between the blOCkS;

struction of the bank by the erosive action of the Fig. 2 iS a COmpOSite plan View 0f the revet- Water and effecting equalization of the hydrostatic nient SllOWn in Fig. 1 and illustrating progressively pressure upon opposite faces of the revetment. from right to left the development of the mattress Another object of this invention is to afford a fom the bed l'10 the finished PrOdllCt;

revetment involving a series of tetrahedron Fig. 3 is a sectional view partly in elevation of 4o shaped units which may be plaoed in position by a revetment composed of tetrahedron blocks and a merely dropping the units into the flowing water, finer mammal the gravel bed bemg Omltted;

thus making construction practicable at all sea- Fig' 4 is a' .fragmentary plan View of the revt' ment shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a sectional View partly in elevation of 5 ice interference h o ned m Another object of this lnvention 1s to produce g v lmthfoooflgf; onttlgglgl amattress which is peculiarly suitable to the problocks arranged in superimposed relation the tection of up-stream, down-stream and bottom 511er material being omitted;

ends of existing revetments to prevent such re- Fg 6 is aperspective View of a, revetment block 60 Vetment-S being flanked, undermined 0r other having a triangular shaped recess formed in each wise destroyed by owing Water. of its sides;

Other objects of this invention are to provide Fig. '7 is a similar view, showing amodiiied form a revetment which will cling closely to bank or of revetment'block, the sides of which are conshorematerials to be protected, regardless of cave; u

Fig. 8 is a horizontal section of the modificamy tion shown in Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a modified form Y Fig. 12 is a perspective view of the revetmen l Y block used in connection with the construction shown in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive; l

Fig. 13 isa perspective viewwof. a revetinent block of the form shown in Fig. 12, but having Yits edges rounded, and -1 Y Fig. 14 illustrates aform of "diagram for determining the correct size of revetment blocks to be used .ina given locality. n

The Underwater survey conductedby the Mississippi River Commission in '1931,' for the purpose iof determining Ythe conditions vbelow waterleveliof various types of existing revetments 'agiter inany yearsfexposure to the action of, the watersi of the Mississippi River, and `conditions above water levelfduring-'lowwater stages, dis- Y closedl many 'defects in the various types of revetment, chiefof which was the-inabilityof the revetments vto hold together when pockets were formed beneath them by the gradual-leaching'out of bank materials, sliding of portions of thebank,

orfroni undermining of the toe of steeply slop-ing banks.-

Underwater survey,` which was made by ,experienced divers," further disclosed that luln- Y concrete" units Yto each other Vfrequently rusted away, causingethe 4lower sections of such revetyments tc-be carriedr away bythe current, andV leaving reniainingsections to projectr over gap- Y ingholes inv thel bank vherelthe` currenthad imderminedthe' revetment and Washed out large volumes ofthe very bank materials'which these Yarticulated'revetrnents were intended to protect and hold in place,

Disruption of the continui-ty or vvthese types of revetments not only exposed'to unprotected bank materials to-the erosive action of the water, but Vactually tended to accelerate sucherosive action including bankV caving. The "principal oifenders in this connection have been the frayedend-pcrtions' vof lrevetmentstill in' place which sway in the current thus promoting exit of the underlying bank material instead 'of' holding itin place.' A

common 'source of failure lin-revetment Yconstruction has been found to be thecontinuoussifting of "the finer particles of bank material through the interstices ofthe-revetment, Which 'permits' re- Vcession'of the bank and'its overlying revetments.

'Ihis notably has been the case with willow,r lumber mat, and articulated slabrevetmentswhich have been'in `extensive use on the: Mississippi River; VWillow and lumber matsycontinuous concrete slabs, and articulatedVconcrete'revetments Y-arelall subject to `rupture and disintegration when -holes VYfc-rrnlibeneaththeinf either by lsliding of bank portions or washing out of the bank materials. t

aocsnes Itis therefore the aire and purpose of this inf vention to overcome these defects by the provision of a revetment, which will not only preclude the formation of holes beneath the revetment, due to either sliding or washingout of bank materials, but will resist these tendencies by permitting the blocks and gravel to drop into and fill any incipient holes thatmay be forming.

w VAnother common forni of falure'observed was bursting of continuous slag revetments due to `water pressure. underneath or back of the revetinentsiab.r This pressure manifests itself dur `ing falling river( stages or ebb tides, which relieves the -Water pressure on the water side. The instant revetment by virtue of the gravel filler material. which it contains, functions as a blanket, which, while preventing theiine, erodible, bank fmaterials from sifting through, is nevertheless su-fliciently porous to transmit water pressure in either direction, thus. eifectuaiiy..equalizinggthe hydrostatic pressures-on Ythe frontandgback ofthe revetment,and eliminating dangerous unbalanced pressure heads. Y -35 i.

1 In Vthe illustrated. 4:embodiment Acharacte.rising one form-of this invention,V reference. being,..had especially to Figs. 1 and 2,- there isshownabank (heupen-the surface (2) of .which is, laid.r a .suit able-base (3,).- This basefmaybe-.,coinposedgof any locally available.. rnaterialsuchA asgraueL shells and the like. n the. construction'oigthe basefitl, it will benotedrfthat its .thieknes s isV V`disposition of the .blocks (4l/uponl their/ A base.

.These blocks (r4) mayv be composedgof co,ricrete the of tetrahedrons, as jthisi; .configuration has been found by laboratory experiment to afford maximum resistance to the dislodging action of '.GhQiWa'e; sii V 'gfisi @55 :To lay the blocks, anlaunching berg shown) Itakes a vposition` relative,- to tbe bedr (,2) land comensurate with thestrenethfeathe eurrent whereupon the .blocks 43 iareidropped oyerboard into the owing water,i.through;vlh1z1,they

gradually snk-, `until ytheyfcorne to rest-upongthe 'bedin various positions; shownfsome `of. the blocks penetrating the gravel'. bed,V others restingiupon their base, asclearly -disclosedI in Figi.'-7 V1 4gif-,the drawings. 'Experienced has` indicatedgtha about 15G-300 i12-inch ..blocks are.r necessary-tofach i 1o X iii-foot areaoft-ne surface tone reverted fVarious forms, ,oftetrahedronblocksgniay e resorted to inconstructing thisgrevetgmentgand some of these types are illustrated in Figsrt to 13 inclusive. In thisjconnection it is to be underface at (6)"(Fig'. 6), or vblocks provided .with

to "l0'inclusive),1may be usedif desirableas 'these Vconstructions either tendetorholdethe flller-ma -terial andthe blocks in'position against-thei-action ofi the water.. oras inthecase of the convex form,

permit theweight of the block to. be increased without changingzits'linear.dimensione;v:l

` If, arevetment isgused employingftwo loyersY of Fig. 11, wherein the apexes are removed as at "foV Ito use. theiorm :Lof tetrahedronblock;showngfin r (9), since this type facilitates nesting. On the other hand, it may be found desirable to slightly round the corners and edges of the blocks as at (I0), (Fig. 13), as this type permits the blocks to be more readily removed from the mold. Y

In the experimental work on the Mississippi River, the revetments have been composed of the tetrahedron blocks of the type shown in (Fig. 12), that is to say, a block bounded by four equal sized equilateral triangles (I I). This block has given excellent results and constitutes the shape of block upon which calculations thus far have been based.

Having discussed the various forms of tetrahedron blocks which may be utilized in the construction of this revetment, reference is deemed advisable to the mode of determining the linear measurement and weight of blocks suitable for a given locality. Assuming definite knowledge be at hand relating to the slope and depth of the stream to determine the tractive force of the water to be resisted, a chart may be resorted to such as that shown in Fig. 14 of the drawings. According to this chart, the figures in column (I3) designate the heights of tetrahedron blocks, those in column (I4) the slopes of water surfaces in terms of fractions of a foot vertically for each foot horizontally, while those in line (I5) indicate various depths in feet. With this arrangement a line A-C drawn from a given slope through a point B on the line (I5) will afford the minimum height of block required, let us saw, for

a depth of feet and a slope of .00030 feet vertically per one foot horizontally. Manifestly line (I5) can be drawn similarly for any given combination of depth and slope to the corresponding minimum height of block.

Perhaps one of the most important features to the present invention resides in the construction of each block so that it will have the proper dimensions and weight to withstand the tractive forces to be exerted upon it in the particular locality where used. The tractive force which will be exerted at any point, by flowing water on a block when deposited on the bank or bottom of the body of water to be protected may be eX- pressed by the formula:

T=WSD where T=tractive force in pounds per square foot W=weight of water per cubic foot S=slope of the water surface D=depth in feet of the water at the given point This formula was first derived by DuBoys from a theoretical consideration of the mechanics of flowing water and has been checked in this instance by experiments upon tetrahedron blocks of two different sizes. The formula assumes parallelism of water surface and bed, and nonacceleration of velocity of flow. Such conditions obtained in the tests, and are closely approached in nature. It should be noted that in DuBoys equation, with W considered constant, T varies with the product of depth and slope; hence if slope and depth vary inversely with each other the value of T is not affected. If, then, the products of several different combinations of slopes and depths at which the blocks are just moved results` in a common figure, this figure may be assumed to be the measure of the critical tractive force of the blocks (designated To). Thus the stability of the blocks under any given condition in nature may be determined. Actually, the product SD, designated Ts, is usually employed in preference to To, as considerable multiplication is thereby avoided.

The type of revetment shown in Figs. 1 and 2, as well as the tetrahedron blocks used in connection with such revetment, having been described, reference will now be made to the form of revetment disclosed in Figs. 3 and 4. In accordance with this construction the bed (3) is omitted and the blocks (4) are deposited directly upon the surface (2) to be revetted. After the blocks have been laid as described in connection with Fig. 1, they are interspersed with a filler material (5), as clearly shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings.

This material (5), which may consist of gravel, shells or other similar locally available material, acts as a blanket for the ner erodible bank or bottom materials. A blanket of this character not only prevents the nner erodible materials from being washed from beneath the blocks (4) but also serves to transmit water pressure in either direction, to equalize the pressure on the upper and lower surfaces of the blanket. This iiller material in the absence of the blocks (4) to hold it in place would be removed by the action of the water, as will be readily understood without further discussion.

In the light of the preceding disclosure, it is evident that depending upon the exigencies of the situation, various combinations of the components of the revetment under consideration could be resorted to, without departing from the fundamental principles of the invention. For instance, the gravel bed might be omitted, the blocks with filler material being laid directly upon a graded bank as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. of two layers of blocks arranged in superimposed relation and without filler material, might be resorted to, the blocks being deposited upon a gravel bed as shown in Fig. 5. Other modifications of the gravel bed blocks and filler material might include two layers of tetrahedron blocks with filler material, but laid directly upon the bank, or a single layer of blocks laid upon the gravel bed but omitting the filler material. Additional combinations might be given, but it is thought that the foregoing will suiiice to indicate various changes which might be resorted to within the scope of this invention.

In conclusion, it will be apparent, the revetment forming the subject matter of this application provides a form of protection for the shores, banks and/or bottoms of rivers or other bodies of water, which compared with the various' slab types of revetment is so. simple in construction, as to make it practicable for any competent contractor to produce all the blocks and perform all the work required to produce a complete revetment.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and wish to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A method of constructing revetments for shores, banks, bottoms of rivers and the like consisting in forming a bed on the surface to be revetted, the bed being of suicient thickness to preclude the passage therethrough of the finer materials of the revetted surface and composed of an aggregate, the permeability of which will permit equalization of the hydrostatic pressure exerted above and below the bed and then protecting the bed against erosion by depositing thereon a series of blocks shaped to provide a multiplicity of angular projections, the latter functioning to dissipate wave impacts and decelerate water currents in immediate contact with the bed.

CII

4 f Y zoem 2.A`1ethod of cojlstl'ucs'rig`Y t'evetents or shoes, banks, bottoms of rversuandthe likei consstingin forming a bed onv the surface to be revetted, the ybed 'being of sumoient thickness to precludethe passage therethrough of the Yner materials of the 'reyetted surface, :and composed of an aggregate, the :permeability :of which'wll 4permit'. equalization Vofthe hydrostatic'gpressue exerted .abovey and belowthe bed and` then protecting the bed .against erosion .by depositing thereon a series-of tetrahedron blocks functioning to dissipate Wave impacts and deoelerate water'currents inimrnedate contact with the bed.

GERARD H. MAT'II-IES. 

